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With their first-round victories at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals, Matt Hagan and Greg Anderson clinched their spots in the NHRA Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship. Hagan became the second Funny Car driver to lock up a spot in the postseason, joining teammate and reigning world champ Ron Capps, and Anderson joined teammate Bo Butner in Pro Stock. In qualifying, L.E. Tonglet became the first Pro Stock Motorcycle rider to secure his spot.

Steve Torrence, Leah Pritchett, and Antron Brown in Top Fuel, also all clinched their berths in the Countdown following the Fallen Patriots NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by K&N Filters in Chicago

Just four events –- Sonoma, Seattle, Brainerd and Indianapolis -- remain for drivers to earn positions in the top 10 standings of their respective classes.

The Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend is the last place for drivers to earn points. After that event, the points will be reset and only the top 10 drivers in each class will be eligible to compete for NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series championships in the Countdown.

The six-race Countdown to the Championship begins Sept. 15 with the NHRA Carolina Nationals in Charlotte and comes to a climactic conclusion Nov. 9-12 at the Auto Club NHRA Finals in Pomona.

The following drivers have clinched their spots in the 2017 Countdown to the Championship:

Two-time NHRA Funny Car champion Matt Hagan will help wish the Mopar brand a happy 80th birthday in nitro HEMI®-engine fueled fashion, starting this weekend at the 38th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals near Denver. The Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) driver and Mopar teamed up today to reveal special Mopar 80th anniversary graphics that Hagan will campaign on his Dodge Charger R/T in at least five NHRA National events during the remainder of the season.

Hagan will also debut a new firesuit featuring unique Mopar 80th anniversary branding, which will carry over to the team shirts for he and his crew. Hagan's DSR teammate Leah Pritchett will also sport Mopar 80th logos on her Papa John's Pizza/Mopar Pennzoil Top Fuel dragster and firesuit at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals and the Dodge NHRA Nationals in Pennsylvania in late September.

"Matt Hagan and Leah Pritchett are great ambassadors to help us celebrate 80 years of our brand," said Pietro Gorlier, Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), FCA – Global. "Matt brought home NHRA World championships in 2011 and 2014 and has collected numerous wins and records in his career, while Leah has won multiple times this season and set the national elapsed-time record in the Top Fuel category utilizing HEMI power. It's already been an amazing year for Mopar-powered drivers and it's just going to get better as we cheer on Matt and Leah in special Mopar anniversary graphics." Full Story

JOLIET, Ill. (July 9, 2017) - After a semifinal exit at the 20th annual Route 66 Nationals near Chicago, Matt Hagan and the Hagan and the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Powered by Pennzoil team set their sights on Denver and later the Countdown to the Championship.

On Sunday, Hagan entered race day at the Route 66 Nationals as the No. 4 qualifier with his time of 3.895 seconds at 332.10 mph from the second qualifying session on Friday.

The team, led by crew chief Dickie Venables and assistant Mike Knudsen, lined up for round one against former nitro champion Del Worsham. Hagan clocked a time of 4.162 (251.95) to give him the win light over Worsham's tire smoking 5.718 (133.68).

In the second round, Hagan matched up with Alexis DeJoria of Kalitta Motorsports. Hagan ran a 4.006 (319.60) to win over DeJoria's 4.399.

Hagan then moved onto the semifinals to face his Don Schumacher Racing teammate and NHRA points leader, Ron Capps.

The Mopar Express Lane car left the starting line first but Capps got to the finish line first to with a time of 4.038 (318.84) over Hagan's 4.088 (313.58).

"We learned some stuff in the clutch department in the seat on a hot racetrack," Hagan said. "Obviously we would do a few little things different than what we did in the semis, but went to the semis.

"We're trying to catch Capps and he's just kind of pulling away a little bit with stuff. But that's why they have the Countdown nowadays."

The Countdown to the Championship is the NHRA's playoffs. After the U.S. Nationals during Labor Day weekend, the NHRA points are reset as the circuit runs its six final races of the season.

"We're just going to keep working on it. I wouldn't trade Dickie Venables or Mike Knudsen for anybody out here, man. I know when things cool down a little bit nobody can touch our race car so I'm really looking forward to the Countdown and the last six races."

In two weeks, the NHRA circuit travels to Denver for the 38th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals to kick off the annual Western Swing, a three week swing through Colorado, northern California and Washington.

"Denver is huge event for Mopar. We'll be doing stuff non-stop. I'm going to have my son there with me. It's going to be a big event. It's got a new feel to it so we'll start it off right and hopefully win that race for our sponsor."

Mopar racers Matt Hagan and Leah Pritchett will have their pitchforks out as they prepare to battle in two new 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demons in a pair of match races scheduled between qualifying rounds on Friday, July 21 and Saturday, July 22 at Bandimere Speedway.

The match races will mark the official public drag strip debut of the limited-production 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, the first-ever production car to do a front-wheel lift, as certified by Guinness World Records, and the world's fastest quarter-mile production car with an elapsed time of 9.65 seconds at 140 miles per hour, as certified by the NHRA. It also registers the highest g-force (1.8 g) ever recorded at launch in a production car.

Hagan and Pritchett will showcase the full potential of the Challenger SRT Demon at the drag strip – and its full 840 horsepower and 770 lb.-ft. of torque. The new Dodge Challenger SRT Demon will start arriving at Dodge//SRT dealerships this fall at a starting U.S. Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $84,995, including $1,700 gas guzzler tax, excluding $1,095 destination.

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (July 5, 2017) - The second half of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season kicks off this weekend with the 20th annual Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago.

And it begins with a heavy heart at Don Schumacher Racing and the NHRA community.

Terry Chandler, who funded DSR Funny Cars for Jack Beckman and Tommy Johnson Jr., since 2014, lost her valiant fight with brain cancer on Tuesday afternoon. She was 65 when she died in Florida with family and loved ones at her side.

"Man, this really hurts," Matt Hagan, driver of DSR's Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T Funny Cars said of the recipient of the NHRA Blaine Johnson Award in 2015 for her dedication to helping others. "She always had that big smile and loved her Make-A-Wish kids. We're really going to miss her."

Hagan and thousands of others will carry her memory throughout the rest of the 2017 season and beyond.

After four consecutive weekends of racing in June, the series took the weekend off and it allowed 2012 and 2014 Funny Car world champion Hagan some quality time with the family and his expanding cattle farm in rural Virginia.

"That month of June was rough on everybody," Hagan said. "It was tough on the guys that work on this car, their families and it was tough keeping up here on the farm. So it's been a productive time at home and I'm ready to go back racing."

The Mello Yello Series reached its halfway point two weeks ago at Norwalk, Ohio, and the Mopar Express Lane team led by crew chief Dickie Venables and assistant Michael Knudsen have three event titles in four final round appearances. They trail DSR teammate and reigning world champion Ron Capps in Funny Car points standings.

"We're halfway through and it's been a great year for us," said Hagan. "But it's been a better year for (Capps) so we are focused on doing what they do and going down the track each and every lap and picking up round wins consistently."

Hagan has three career event titles in four final round appearances at Route 66 Raceway near Chicago.

"It seems to be one that we just do well at," he said. "That's all Dickie. He's the mastermind. It's a tough one because we don't qualify in the conditions we race in so that's kind of a head scratcher for these crew chiefs. But he's the guy I want on my side when it comes to that. You can throw anything at the guy and he's going to figure it out and that's what he'll do this weekend."